Rainy day shopping

Jan 8, 2007

While Erin headed west to Chapel Hill to stock up on law books for her fourth semester at UNC Law, I took the girls east under the implicit agreement that they’d accompany me to the new Trader Joe’s and Fresh Market stores in Cary as long as I took them to the huge Kids Exchange consignment sale at the state fairgrounds in search of ballet shoes and leotards. Seems we all got we we needed today: Anna and Malia have their dancing shoes and tutus, Erin got her books, and I found the Spanish wine (Marques de Riscal rioja reserva) and spices (white peppercorns, fennel and paprika) I’ve been looking for.

At Fresh Market, I used a gift card my mother had given me for Christmas. Both the NYTimes and New Yorker explore why retailers don’t mind when gift cards don’t get cashed. In the New Yorker, James Surowiecki takes a dig at Josh Rouse no matter, I’ll be buying tickets for his Jan 24th concert at Cat’s Cradle anyway (will be my third time to see him). Won’t be using a gift card for that, though.